Glenn, I mentioned in my last post that my post lasik prescription is OD;+1.25 sph and OS; -0.50 + 1.00x035. What does the sph mean and where are the rest of the numbers as in the left eye? I know my astigmatism is gone in the right eye but he said I was over corrected. If I have enhancement what are my chances of it being successful as if he over flattened my eye or removed too much how do you replace that? When my doctor refracted me, I saw SO good. What is a safe waiting time to do this enhancement? Thanks once again!

I really cannot predict how well enhancement Lasik surgery will resolve your overcorrection into hyperopia. What you see with corrective lenses will be the target. You probably should be wearing glasses or contacts to give you good vision while you wait to heal and decide what to do about Lasik enhancement surgery, which should be at least three months postop or when your refraction has stabilized. You can always wait longer.

Hyperopic (farsighted, longsighted) Lasik is virtually the same as myopic (nearsighted, shortsighted) Lasik. The difference is where the laser removes tissue. With myopic Lasik, tissue is removed in the center of the cornea. Hyperopic Lasik requires tissue to be removed from the periphery of the cornea, like a ring.

Tissue is not added with any kind of Lasik.

The difference between primary Lasik and Lasik enhancement surgery is that the Lasik flap needs to be created in primary Lasik. The flap created during the first Lasik will be lifted for Lasik enhancement.

Thanks Glenn, This site is SO helpful to me. A couple more questions on the subject. Do you know of people that have had enhancement like I will need? Was it successful? Is this a common outcome with lasik? Why did this happen? Was the lasik machine set wrong??

Virginia wrote:Do you know of people that have had enhancement like I will need?

Yes, but more importantly I am familiar with the outcome statistics. You may want to look at the FDA's Lasik webpage regarding hyperopic Lasik outcomes for the laser that will be used in your enhancement surgery. This information is for "virgin" eyes, not retreatments, but the statistical outcomes should be about the same.

Virginia wrote:Was it successful?

Hyperopic Lasik is considered safe and effective by medical standards. The outcomes are not quite as predictable as with myopic Lasik, but good enough for approval.

Virginia wrote:Is this a common outcome with lasik?

Not "common", but unintentional overcorrection is a known undesired outcome.

Virginia wrote:Why did this happen?

There are many possible reasons. The wavefront analysis may not have derived the correct information. Your eyes could have been dry. Drier corneas ablate more tissue with each pulse. There may have been a delay that caused your cornea to dehydrate during the procedure. It may have been a low humidity day. It may have been a low atmospheric pressure day. All of these elements can cause a fluctuation in outcomes. It can also be that your eyes respond differently to laser energy than the average.

Virginia wrote:Was the lasik machine set wrong??

Possibly. It may also be an instance where everything was done right, but got the wrong result. This is microsurgery on biological tissue. Unfortunately that happens.

Hi Bada, This is my latest prescription from2/28/07. It is from 5 wks. post lasik.Rt. eye is +1.25 sph and lf. eye is:-0.50 + 1.00x 35.I know my right eye has no astigmatism but is over corrected. If it doesn't change within the next 2 mo. I will have enhancement. My doctor said the left eye is still not exact but is within such a close range that they will probably not enhance it because by being so close they could ever correct it. I don't know how much astigmatism is left. I think only a small amount. Glenn could tell you that better that me. Hope that helps!

The astigmatism in your left eye is enough to cause blur, especially in low light environments. If you wore contact lenses that corrected the astigmatism you would have a better idea of what may be accomplished with enhancement surgery. Your doctor is correct that the amount of residual refractive error is small, but you will know if it is an important difference if you try contacts.

Virginia,
Just like Glenn say, your left astigmatism will make things blur on your left eye. I have .75 of astigmatism on my eye and it really makes things blur and bothers me everyday.
Do you see anything blur from your left eye?

Bada, Truthfully, I don't notice the blur in my left eye. I do notice blurring in the right. I wonder if once they correct the right eye if I will notice the small blurring in the left eye. I am going to wait out my 2 months and see what both doctors say about what I really need for enhancement. I started using genteal gel at night. It seems to help my vision during the day. Make sure you keep your eyes moist especially at night. Did your doctor say anything about enhancement?